The present invention is directed to ink compositions and to methods for the use thereof. More specifically, the present invention is directed to ink compositions suitable for use in ink jet printing processes. One embodiment of the present invention is directed to an ink composition comprising (a) water, (b) a colorant, and (c) 1,3,5-trioxane or tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether.
Ink jet printing systems generally are of two types: continuous stream and drop-on-demand. In continuous stream ink jet systems, ink is emitted in a continuous stream under pressure through at least one orifice or nozzle. The stream is perturbed, causing it to break up into droplets at a fixed distance from the orifice. At the break-up point, the droplets are charged in accordance with digital data signals and passed through an electrostatic field which adjusts the trajectory of each droplet in order to direct it to a gutter for recirculation or a specific location on a recording medium. In drop-on-demand systems, a droplet is expelled from an orifice directly to a position on a recording medium in accordance with digital data signals. A droplet is not formed or expelled unless it is to be placed on the recording medium.
Since drop-on-demand systems require no ink recovery, charging, or deflection, the system is much simpler than the continuous stream type. There are two types of drop-on-demand ink jet systems. One type of drop-on-demand system has as its major components an ink filled channel or passageway having a nozzle on one end and a piezoelectric transducer near the other end to produce pressure pulses. The relatively large size of the transducer prevents close spacing of the nozzles, and physical limitations of the transducer result in low ink drop velocity. Low drop velocity seriously diminishes tolerances for drop velocity variation and directionality, thus impacting the system's ability to produce high quality copies. Drop-on demand systems which use piezoelectric devices to expel the droplets also suffer the disadvantage of a slow printing speed.
Another type of drop-on-demand system is known as thermal ink jet, or bubble jet, and produces high velocity droplets and allows very close spacing of nozzles. The major components of this type of drop-on-demand system are an ink filled channel having a nozzle on one end and a heat generating resistor near the nozzle. Printing signals representing digital information originate an electric current pulse in a resistive layer within each ink passageway near the orifice or nozzle, causing the ink in the immediate vicinity to evaporate almost instantaneously and create a bubble. The ink at the orifice is forced out as a propelled droplet as the bubble expands. When the hydrodynamic motion of the ink stops, the process is ready to start all over again. With the introduction of a droplet ejection system based upon thermally generated bubbles, commonly referred to as the "bubble jet" system, the drop-on-demand ink jet printers provide simpler, lower cost devices than their continuous stream counterparts, and yet have substantially the same high speed printing capability.
The operating sequence of the bubble jet system begins with a current pulse through the resistive layer in the ink filled channel, the resistive layer being in close proximity to the orifice or nozzle for that channel. Heat is transferred from the resistor to the ink. The ink becomes superheated far above its normal boiling point, and for water based ink, finally reaches the critical temperature for bubble formation or nucleation of around 280.degree. C. Once nucleated, the bubble or water vapor thermally isolates the ink from the heater and no further heat can be applied to the ink. This bubble expands until all the heat stored in the ink in excess of the normal boiling point diffuses away or is used to convert liquid to vapor, which removes heat due to heat of vaporization. The expansion of the bubble forces a droplet of ink out of the nozzle, and once the excess heat is removed, the bubble collapses on the resistor. At this point, the resistor is no longer being heated because the current pulse has passed and, concurrently with the bubble collapse, the droplet is propelled at a high rate of speed in a direction towards a recording medium. The resistive layer encounters a severe cavitational force by the collapse of the bubble, which tends to erode it. Subsequently, the ink channel refills by capillary action. This entire bubble formation and collapse sequence occurs in about 10 microseconds. The channel can be refired after 100 to 500 microseconds minimum dwell time to enable the channel to be refilled and to enable the dynamic refilling factors to become somewhat dampened. Thermal ink jet processes are well known and are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,777, U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,824, U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,899, U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,224, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,530, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference.
Acoustic ink jet printing processes are also known. As is known, an acoustic beam exerts a radiation pressure against objects upon which it impinges. Thus, when an acoustic beam impinges on a free surface (i.e., liquid/air interface) of a pool of liquid from beneath, the radiation pressure which it exerts against the surface of the pool may reach a sufficient high level to release individual droplets of liquid from the pool, despite the restraining force of surface tension. Focusing the beam on or near the surface of the pool intensifies the radiation pressure it exerts for a given amount of input power. These principles have been applied to prior ink jet and acoustic printing proposals. For example, K. A. Krause, "Focusing Ink Jet Head," IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 16, No. 4, September 1973, pp. 1168-1170, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, describe an ink jet in which an acoustic beam emanating from a concave surface and confined by a conical aperture was used to propel ink droplets out through a small ejection orifice. Acoustic ink printers typically comprise one or more acoustic radiators for illuminating the free surface of a pool of liquid ink with respective acoustic beams. Each of these beams usually is brought to focus at or near the surface of the reservoir (i.e., the liquid/air interface). Furthermore, printing conventionally is performed by independently modulating the excitation of the acoustic radiators in accordance with the input data samples for the image that is to be printed. This modulation enables the radiation pressure which each of the beams exerts against the free ink surface to make brief, controlled excursions to a sufficiently high pressure level for overcoming the restraining force of surface tension. That, in turn, causes individual droplets of ink to be ejected from the free ink surface on demand at an adequate velocity to cause them to deposit in an image configuration on a nearby recording medium. The acoustic beam may be intensity modulated or focused/defocused to control the ejection timing, or an external source may be used to extract droplets from the acoustically excited liquid on the surface of the pool on demand. Regardless of the timing mechanism employed, the size of the ejected droplets is determined by the waist diameter of the focused acoustic beam. Acoustic ink printing is attractive because it does not require the nozzles or the small ejection orifices which have caused many of the reliability and pixel placement accuracy problems that conventional drop on demand and continuous stream ink jet printers have suffered. The size of the ejection orifice is a critical design parameter of an ink jet because it determines the size of the droplets of ink that the jet ejects. As a result, the size of the ejection orifice cannot be increased, without sacrificing resolution. Acoustic printing has increased intrinsic reliability because there are no nozzles to clog. As will be appreciated, the elimination of the clogged nozzle failure mode is especially relevant to the reliability of large arrays of ink ejectors, such as page width arrays comprising several thousand separate ejectors. Furthermore, small ejection orifices are avoided, so acoustic printing can be performed with a greater variety of inks than conventional ink jet printing, including inks having higher viscosities and inks containing pigments and other particulate components. It has been found that acoustic ink printers embodying printheads comprising acoustically illuminated spherical focusing lenses can print precisely positioned pixels (i.e., picture elements) at resolutions which are sufficient for high quality printing of relatively complex images. It has also has been discovered that the size of the individual pixels printed by such a printer can be varied over a significant range during operation, thereby accommodating, for example, the printing of variably shaded images. Furthermore, the known droplet ejector technology can be adapted to a variety of printhead configurations, including (1) single ejector embodiments for raster scan printing, (2) matrix configured ejector arrays for matrix printing, and (3) several different types of pagewidth ejector arrays, ranging from single row, sparse arrays for hybrid forms of parallel/serial printing to multiple row staggered arrays with individual ejectors for each of the pixel positions or addresses within a pagewidth image field (i.e., single ejector/pixel/line) for ordinary line printing. Inks suitable for acoustic ink jet printing typically are liquid at ambient temperatures (i.e., about 25.degree. C.), but in other embodiments the ink is in a solid state at ambient temperatures and provision is made for liquefying the ink by heating or any other suitable method prior to introduction of the ink into the printhead. Images of two or more colors can be generated by several methods, including by processes wherein a single printhead launches acoustic waves into pools of different colored inks. Further information regarding acoustic ink jet printing apparatus and processes is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,547, U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,195, U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,937, U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,849, U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,529, U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,530, U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,534, U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,953, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,693, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference. The use of focused acoustic beams to eject droplets of controlled diameter and velocity from a free-liquid surface is also described in J. Appl. Phys., vol. 65, no. 9 ( May 1, 1989) and references therein, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,107 (Bares), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a water-fast ink composition and method for making the same. A selected chemical dye having at least one functional group with an extractable hydrogen atom thereon (e.g. --COOH, --NH.sub.2, or --OH) is combined with an ammonium zirconium polymer salt (e.g. ammonium zirconium carbonate, ammonium zirconium acetate, ammonium zirconium sulfate, ammonium zirconium phosphate, and ammonium zirconium oxalate). The resulting mixture preferably contains about 0.01-5.0% by weight ammonium zirconium polymer salt and about 0.5-5.0% by weight chemical dye. Upon dehydration of the mixture, the ammonium zirconium polymer salt and chemical dye form a cross-linked dye complex which is stable and water-fast. The mixture may be dispensed onto a variety of substrates (e.g. paper) using thermal ink jet or other printing systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,088 (Kempf), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses coatings particularly useful as marking inks in which an epichlorohydrin-modified polyethyleneimine and an ethylene oxide-modified polyethyleneimine cooperate in aqueous solution to form a composition capable of application to form deposits adherent to most materials and resistant to most organic solvents but readily removable by water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,135 (Bailey et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink for use in ink jet printers containing a water soluble dye and a polyamine containing 7 or more nitrogen atoms per molecule, with the ink composition having a pH of 8 or above, the upper pH limit being dye decomposition dependent. The ink has improved waterfastness over an equivalent ink formulation without the polyamine additive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,382 (Kang), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink jet ink composition comprising a major amount of water, a hydroxyethylated polyethyleneimine polymer, and a dye component, wherein the polymer has incorporated therein from about 65 to about 80 percent by weight of hydroxyethyl groups.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,005 (Mueller et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses inks comprising, by weight, from about 4% to about 10% formamide, from about 1% to about 10% dye, and the balance water when printed on paper from an ink-jet printer have improved resistance to bleed, especially when printed at a rote up to about 3.7 kHz.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,785 (Skene et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses inks for ink-jet printing have improved smear resistance when they contain from about 15 to 50%, preferably from about 20% to about 30%, formamide.
Japanese Pat. No. Publication 57-198768, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a type of water-base ink made of acidic dye and/or direct dye, cationic water-soluble resin, water-soluble organic solvent, and water.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,469 (Colt et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition which comprises water, a colorant, and an additive selected from imidazolium formate, imidazolium phosphite, and mixtures thereof. Another embodiment of the invention includes a process which entails incorporating an ink composition of the present invention into an ink jet printing apparatus and causing droplets of the ink composition to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto a substrate. In one preferred embodiment, the printing apparatus employs a thermal ink jet process wherein the ink in the nozzles is selectively heated in an imagewise pattern, thereby causing droplets of the ink to be ejected in imagewise pattern. In another preferred embodiment, the ink is used in a printing process which employs microwave drying of the printed image.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,164 (Tomita et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a water resistant ink composition having a greatly improved water resistance and being excellent in resistance to drying-up, age stability, and smooth ink flowability containing a mixture of polyamine compound having only primary amino groups and a molecular weight of 300 or more and a polyamine having primary amino groups removed therefrom, that is, having only secondary and/or tertiary amino groups and a molecular weight of 300 or more and combined with an anionic dye and a stabilizing agent such as urea or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,535 (Kaiser), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses the reaction product of: (a) a compound of the formula ##STR1##
wherein X is a member selected from the group consisting of N, O, and S; R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are independently a straight or branched, saturated or unsaturated non-aromatic hydrocarbon of four to eighteen carbon atoms; m is 1 or 2; and n is 0, 1 or 2; and (b) a compound selected from the group consisting of primary, secondary, tertiary and higher amines, which are liquid at room temperature. The reaction product has excellent surfactant properties, and is suitable for use in coloring compositions to improve the fugitivity from skin and clothing. The reaction product is also useful as a cleansing agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,639 (Kobayashi), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a recording liquid characterized by containing as a dye a compound represented by the formula ##STR2##
wherein R.sub.1 represents hydrogen or C.sub.1 -C.sub.2 alkyl, R2 and R3 each represent hydrogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.2 alkyl, or C.sub.1 -C.sub.2 alkoxy, R.sub.4 and R.sub.5 represent hydrogen or sulfo in salt form with base, and Q.sub.1 represents naphthyl substituted by hydroxyl and by sulfo in salt form with base.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,246 (Yamamoto et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a recording liquid comprising a coloring material and a liquid medium containing water and a water-soluble organic solvent having an ether bond, and a pH value of said recording liquid being from 3 to 9 and a peroxide concentration of the liquid medium being not more than 4 mmol/l in terms of iodine. Also disclosed is an ink jet recording process that performs recording by ejecting the recording liquid in the form of droplets from a minute ejection orifice, to a recording medium by the action of heat energy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,750 (Gundlach et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition which comprises water, a colorant, a nonionic surfactant, and a fluorinated material selected from the group consisting of (a) those of the formula [(F.sub.2n +1 C.sub.n CH.sub.2 S).sub.2 (CH.sub.3) C--CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 COO-][B.sup.+ ], wherein n is an integer of from about 8 to about 20 and B is a cation, and (b) those of the formula [(F.sub.3 C(F.sub.2 C).sub.n CH.dbd.CHCH.sub.2 OCH(OH)CH.sub.2).sub.2 NCH.sub.2 COO-][X.sup.+ ], wherein X is a cation. Also disclosed are ink jet printing processes employing the aforementioned ink.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,818 (Yatake), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink for ink jet recording which can form a record having a high color density, free from the occurrence of bleeding or feathering even on recycled paper, and possessing water resistance. An ink composition comprising a pigment dispersible and/or soluble in water without the aid of any dispersant and a glycol ether selected from the group consisting of diethylene glycol mono-n-butyl ether, triethylene glycol mono-n-butyl ether, propylene glycol mono-n-butyl ether, and dipropylene glycol mono-n-butyl ether can realize a print having no significant bleeding or feathering. Further, a high-quality image having much less bleeding or feathering can be realized by an ink jet recording method wherein a reaction solution, containing a reactant, capable of breaking the state of dispersion and/or dissolution of a pigment in the ink composition is brought into contact with the ink composition.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,737 (Malhotra et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition which comprises an aqueous liquid vehicle, a colorant, and an additive material selected from the group consisting of (a) symmetric acetylenic bisester alcohols, (b) symmetric acetylenic bisalkyl alcohols and acetylenic bisalkoxy alcohols, (c) symmetric acetylenic bisamido alcohols, (d) symmetric bisamido alcohols, (e) mono amido alcohols, (f) trialkyihydroxy compounds, (g) derivatives of 1,2-diols and 1,3-diols, (h) thio diols, (i) aromatic diols, (j) heterocyclic diols, (k) imino alcohols, (l) salts of hydroxyl compounds, (m) saccharides and saccharide derivatives, and (n) mixtures thereof. Also disclosed is an ink jet process which comprises (1) incorporating into a thermal ink jet printing apparatus the aforementioned ink composition; and (2) causing droplets of the ink to be ejected from the printing apparatus in an imagewise pattern onto a substrate, thereby generating images on the substrate. Further disclosed is an ink jet printing process which comprises (1) incorporating into a thermal ink jet printing apparatus the aforementioned ink composition; (2) causing droplets of the ink to be ejected from the printing apparatus in an imagewise pattern onto a substrate, thereby generating images on the substrate; and (3) exposing the substrate to microwave radiation, thereby drying the images on the substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,478 (Yamamoto et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink jet printing cloth which can be dyed with inks containing a reactive dye and is composed mainly of cellulose fiber, wherein the cloth contains 0.1 to 50 percent by weight of a cationic substance, 0.01 to 5 percent by weight of an alkaline substance, and 0.01 to 20 percent by weight of the ammonium salt of a polyvalent acid, the proportions of said cationic and alkaline substances and said ammonium salt being based on the dry weight of the cloth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,572 (Taniguchi et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition which can provide a print having better waterfastness, stably contains a colorant substantially insoluble or sparingly soluble in water, is less likely to cause clogging of a recording head, and can be advantageously used for ink jet recording. The ink composition comprises a colorant which is either sparingly soluble or insoluble in water, a water-soluble organic solvent capable of dissolving the colorant, a saccharide and/or polyvinyl pyrrolidone, and water.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,338 (Malhotra), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a recording sheet comprising a substrate and a coating consisting essentially of an optional binder, an optional filler, and quaternary ammonium polymers selected from ##STR3##
wherein n is an integer from 1 to 200, R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, and R.sub.4 are selected from alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, and polyoxyalkylene, p is an integer from 1 to 10, q is an integer from 1 to 10, X is an anion, and Y.sub.1 is selected from --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --, --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --, --(CH.sub.2).sub.k --, wherein k is an integer from 2 to 10, and --CH.sub.2 CH(OH)CH.sub.2 --; ##STR4##
wherein n is an integer from 1 to 200, R.sub.5, R.sub.6, R.sub.7, and R.sub.8 are selected from alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, and polyoxyalkylene, m is an integer from 0 to 40, r is an integer from 1 to 10, s is an integer from 1 to 10, X is an anion, and Y.sub.2 is selected from --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --, --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --, --(CH.sub.2).sub.k --, wherein k is an integer from 2 to 10, and --CH.sub.2 CH(OH)CH.sub.2 --; ##STR5##
wherein a and b are integers wherein the sum of a+b is from 2 to 200, R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, R.sub.4, R.sub.5, R.sub.6, R.sub.7, and R.sub.8 are selected from alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, and polyoxyalkylene, p is an integer from 1 to 10, q is an integer from 1 to 10, X is an anion, and Y.sub.1 and Y.sub.2 are selected from --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --, --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --, --(CH.sub.2).sub.k --, wherein k is an integer from 2 to 10, and --CH.sub.2 CH(OH)CH.sub.2 --. Mixtures of these polymers are also suitable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,338 (Kurabayashi et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a liquid composition containing at least a cationic substance and finely ground cellulose. The invention further provides a liquid composition which contains a cationic substance having a molecular weight of 1000 or less and finely ground cellulose. The invention further provides an ink set which is obtained by combining the liquid composition with an ink, and an image-forming method and apparatus which employ the liquid composition and the ink.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,166 (Schwarz), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a thermal ink jet printing composition comprising a dye, a liquid medium, and a surfactant selected from the group consisting of polyoxyalkylated ethers, anionic bitail fluorothio alkyls, alkyl aryl sulfonates, alkyl amine quaternary salts, and mixtures thereof. Also disclosed is a process for generating images which comprises causing the ink compositions disclosed herein to be ejected from a thermal ink jet printer in imagewise fashion onto a substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,675 (Breton et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses fast drying ink compositions containing a colorant, a dye, water and a cosolvent. Some of the ink compositions dry in less than about 1 second and have a viscosity of between about 1.6 and about 2.5 centipoise and a specified surface tension. Some of the ink compositions contain specified cosolvents, preferably a mixture of diethylene glycol monobutyl ether and glycerol.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,534 (Pearlstine et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink set for alleviating bleed in multicolor printed elements employing a first ink and a second ink, each containing an aqueous carrier medium and a colorant; the colorant in the first ink being a pigment dispersion and the second ink containing a salt of an organic acid or mineral acid having a solubility of at least 10 parts in 100 parts of water at 25.degree. C.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,957 (Toan et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses ink compositions, in particular for ink jet printing, containing as stabilizer a water soluble compound of formula ##STR6##
wherein R.sub.1 is H, C.sub.1 -C.sub.18 alkyl, C.sub.7 -C.sub.9 phenylalkyl, phenyl, or a group of formula III ##STR7##
R.sub.2 is H, C.sub.1 -C.sub.18 alkyl, C.sub.7 -C.sub.9 phenylalkyl, phenyl, a group of formula III, or group of formula --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 COOR.sub.6, R.sub.3 is H or C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, M is H, an alkali metal ion or a group (R.sub.7)(R.sub.8)(R.sub.9)(R.sub.10)N wherein R.sub.7, R.sub.8, R.sub.9, and R.sub.10 are each independently of one another H, unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl which is substituted by 1 to 3 --OH groups, C.sub.3 -C.sub.20 alkyl which is interrupted by one or more than one oxygen atom, or are allyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, phenyl, benzyl or tolyl, L is a direct bond, --C(R.sub.11)(R.sub.12)--, or --S--, wherein R.sub.11 and R.sub.12 are each independently of the other H or C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl, or R.sub.11 and R.sub.12, together with the linking carbon atom, form a cyclopentylene, cyclohexylene, or cycloheptylene ring, each unsubstituted or substituted by 1 to 3 C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl groups, R.sub.4 and R.sub.5 are each independently of the other H or C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl, R.sub.6 is M, unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, or C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl which is substituted by one --OH group, or is C.sub.3 -C.sub.20 alkyl which is interrupted by one or more than one oxygen atom, and n is 0 or 1, said compounds, and recording materials containing them, and also discloses a process for stabilizing ink jet prints, the stabilizer being a compound of formula (I) or (II).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,410 (Miller), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a washable dye-containing composition comprising an acid dye, a dye vehicle, and an organic sulfonate in an amount of at least about 10 percent by weight of the composition. In one preferred embodiment, the composition is a washable marker ink, comprising an acid dye, water, and an aromatic sulfonate in an amount of at least about 10 percent by weight of the composition. In another embodiment, the composition is in the form of a water-soluble tempera paint comprising an acid dye, water, fillers, thickeners, opacifiers, and an organic sulfonate in an amount of at least about 10 percent by weight of the composition.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,841 (Calmanti et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a de-inking composition consisting substantially of: (A) a salt of a fatty acid of the formula R--COO--M wherein R represents one or more hydrocarbon chains selected from the class consisting of saturated and/or unsaturated hydrocarbons and M represents a metal selected from the class consisting of Na and K, said taffy acid salt being present in an amount between 5 and 32 percent with respect to the weight of the entire composition; (B) a nonionic ethoxylated and/or propoxylated surfactant of the formula ##STR8##
wherein Y is either H or CH.sub.3 ; R.sup.1 O represents the hydrophobic moiety of the molecule and is derived from a compound selected from the class consisting of alkylphenols of formula ##STR9##
saturated primary fatty alcohols of formula R"--CH.sub.2 OH; saturated secondary fatty alcohols of formula R'" ##STR10##
fatty acids of the formula R.sup.v --COOH; and mixtures thereof, wherein R', R", R'", R.sup.iv and R.sup.v are alkyl chains; and n is a number between 2 and 40; said nonionic surfactant being present in an amount between 5 and 25 percent by weight of the entire composition; (C) an anionic surfactant selected from the class consisting of sulphonates of the formula R.sup.2 --SO.sub.3 --M'; sulphates of formula R.sup.3 --O--SO.sub.3 --M', and mixtures thereof, wherein R.sup.2 is selected from the class consisting of linear paraffin chains, olefine chains, and alkylaryl chains, R.sup.3 is a paraffin chain, and M' is selected from the class consisting of Na, K, NH.sub.4, and mono-, di- and tri-substituted alkylamines; said anionic surfactant being present in an amount between 2 and 8 percent with respect to the weight of the entire composition; (D) a sodium-carboxylmethyl-cellulose in an amount between 1 and 5 percent with respect to the weight of the entire composition; and (E) an alkaline inorganic salt selected from the class consisting of metasilicate, disilicate, carbonate, borate and polyphosphates, said alkaline inorganic salt being present in an amount between 30 and 80 percent of the entire composition; the percentages of the components (A), (B), (C), (D) and (E) totaling essentially 100 percent. A process of de-inking is also disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,224 (Tomita et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an aqueous ink composition having high water resistance and excellent age stability and resistance to drying-up. A feature resides in a water resistant ink composition comprising an aqueous vehicle which contains a polyamine containing primary amino groups in the proportion of 3-20 percent of amino groups contained in a molecule, one, two, or more stabilizing agent selected from urea, thiourea, ethylene urea, hydroxyethyl urea, hydroxypropyl urea, ethylene, thiourea, diethyl thiourea, 2-pyrrolidone, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, sorbitol, dimethylsulfone, and mixtures thereof, and water and an anionic dye having a solubility of 10 percent by weight or more in said aqueous vehicle.
Japanese Pat. No. Publication JP-08009701, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a recording liquid for ink jet printing which comprises a water soluble dye, an aqueous medium, and a pyridazinium polymer of the formula ##STR11##
wherein R.sub.1 =H or (un)substituted alkyl group, R.sub.2 =(un)substituted alkyl group, X=anion, and n=100 to 5,000. The pyridazinium polymer is present in the ink in an amount of 0.5 to 20 weight percent. The ink preferably also contains a surfactant, has a pH of 6 to 8, and contains a compound of urea, thiourea, biuret, or semicarbazide.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,447 (Nagasawa et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an aqueous pigment ink composition comprising an oxidized carbon black obtained by wet oxidation of a carbon black using a hypohalous acid and/or salt thereof, and a water soluble cationic polymer or oligomer in an aqueous medium. The ink does not cause nozzle clogging when used in an ink jet printer, enables smooth writing from a narrow pen tip, and provides images with excellent water resistance, light resistance, density, and hue.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,441 (Chen et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses the use of polyquaternized vinyl amines for water clarification.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,753 (Pawlowski et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink for ink jet printers comprising an aqueous-based vehicle and an anionic dye complexed with a polyamine in an amount sufficient to form a pH-insensitive, water soluble dye/polyamine complex that acts like a cationic dye. Also disclosed is a method for converting the anionic dye to the cationic dye for formulating an ink jet of ink of desired pH. The method comprises adding a sufficient amount of the polyamine to form the dye/polyamine complex, which is a complex of the dye and the cationic polyamine polymer. The complex behaves as a cationic dye. The inks exhibit good waterfastness, pH-insensitivity, superior inter-ink bleed, and reduced crusting or drying in ink jet nozzles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,655 (Pawlowski et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink jet ink composition including at least one primary surfactant and at least one cosurfactant, with the cosurfactant having an HLB at least about 1.5 units higher than that of the primary surfactant. The cosurfactant imparts good wetting and cloud point characteristics to the ink without sacrificing the bleed control achieved with the use of the low HLB surfactant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,071 (Atherton et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses film media useful in ink jet printing which comprise a transparent, translucent, or opaque substrate having on at least one side thereof a water insoluble, water absorptive, and ink receptive matrix, the matrix comprising a hydrogel complex and a polymeric high molecular weight quaternary ammonium salt.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,818 (Lin et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a thermal ink jet printing process which comprises (a) incorporating into a thermal ink jet printer an ink composition comprising water, a dye, and pigment particles having an average particle diameter of from about 0.001 micron to about 10 microns, said pigment particles being present in the ink in an amount of less than 0.1 percent by weight; and (b) causing droplets of the ink to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto a recording medium by selectively heating the ink in the printer in an imagewise pattern, thereby generating images on the recording medium. The disclosed ink is capable of producing large drop mass, high ink velocity, good directionality, and high quality images on plain papers with excellent long term jetting stability.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,765 (Ma), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses ink jet ink compositions which comprise an aqueous carrier medium, a cationic dye, and a cationic polymer. The inks have excellent crusting behavior and kogation property and may be used with a variety of ink jet printers such as continuous, piezoelectric drop on demand, and thermal or bubble jet drop on demand, and are particular adapted for use in thermal ink jet printers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,121 (Lin), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a set of inks for printing multicolor images in an ink jet printer, said ink set comprising (A) a first ink having a first color and comprising water and a colorant selected from the group consisting of (1) anionic dyes, (2) dyes having physically or chemically associated therewith a stabilizing agent having anionic groups thereon, (3) pigment particles having anionic groups chemically attached thereto, (4) pigment particles having physically or chemically associated therewith a stabilizing agent having anionic groups thereon, and (5) mixtures thereof; and (B) a second ink comprising water, an optional colorant having a color other than the first color, and an ammonium salt having at least two cationic ammonium functional groups, wherein the colorant in the first ink is capable of being immobilized on a printing substrate by interaction with the ammonium salt having at least two cationic ammonium functional groups in the second ink.
Copending application U.S. Ser. No. 09/047,097, filed Mar. 24, 1998, entitled "Ink Compositions With Improved Waterfastness and Smear Resistance," with the named inventors Kurt B. Gundlach, Richard L. Colt, Luis A. Sanchez, Maura A. Sweeney, and Edward J. Radigan, Jr., the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition which comprises water, an anionic dye, and a polyquaternary amine compound selected from the group consisting of polydiallyl ammonium compounds, polyquaternized polyvinylamines, polyquaternized polyallylamines, and mixtures thereof. Also disclosed are methods for using the aforementioned ink composition in ink jet printing processes.
Copending application U.S. Ser. No. 09/046,852, filed Mar. 24, 1998, entitled "Ink Compositions With Improved Shelf Stability", with the named inventors Kurt B. Gundlach, Luis A. Sanchez, Richard L. Colt, Maura A. Sweeney, and William M. Schwarz, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition which comprises (1) water; (2) a nonpolymeric salt comprising at least one cation and at least one anion; and (3) a colorant comprising an anionic dye complexed with a polyquaternary amine compound. Also disclosed is an ink composition which comprises (1) water; (2) a nonpolymeric salt comprising at least one cation and at least one anion; (3) an anionic dye; and (4) a polyquaternary amine compound. In one embodiment, the polyquaternary amine compound is selected from the group consisting of polydiallyl ammonium compounds, polyquaternized polyvinylamines, polyquaternized polyallylamines, epichlorohydrin/amine copolymers, cationic amido amine copolymers, copolymers of vinyl pyrrolidinone and a vinyl imidazolium salt, and mixtures thereof.
Copending application U.S. Ser. No. 09/046,849, filed Mar. 24, 1998, entitled "Ink Compositions Containing Cationic Amido Amine Polymers", with the named inventor William M. Schwarz, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition which comprises (1) water; (2) a dye; and (3) a cationic amido amine copolymer. Also disclosed are methods for using the aforementioned ink composition in ink jet printing processes.
Copending application U.S. Ser. No. 09/047,278, filed Mar. 24, 1998, entitled "Ink Compositions Containing Vinyl Pyrrolidinone/Vinyl Imidazolium Copolymers", with the named inventor William M. Schwarz, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition which comprises (1) water; (2) an anionic dye; and (3) a copolymer of vinyl pyrrolidinone and a vinyl imidazolium salt. Also disclosed are methods for using the aforementioned ink compositions in ink jet printing processes.
Copending application U.S. Ser. No. 09/106,621, filed Jun. 29, 1998, entitled "Ink Compositions Substantially Free of Organic Liquids", with the named inventors Kurt B. Gundlach, Maura A. Sweeney, Luis A. Sanchez, Richard L. Colt, and Melvin D. Croucher, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition which comprises water, an acid dye, a monovalent salt, a polyquaternary amine compound, and an optional nonionic or cationic surfactant, said ink being substantially free of organic solvents. The ink is particularly suitable for applications such as ink jet printing and marking pens. The disclosed inks in some embodiments are substantially indelible. Also disclosed is a composition for removing the ink compositions from substrates to which they have been applied which comprises water and a dianionic surfactant, optionally further containing a salt, urea, and/or a viscosity building agent such as a gum.
Copending application U.S. Ser. No. 09/405,680, filed Sep. 24, 1999, entitled "Improved Washing Composition for Indelible Marks", with the named inventors Kurt B. Gundlach and Richard L. Colt, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a washing composition which comprises a linear alkyl diphenyl oxide disulfonate compound, a chloride, bromide, iodide, nitrate, acetylacetonate, polyphosphate, squarate, or sulfonate salt or mixtures thereof, and a cosolvent which is propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, tripropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, glycerine, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, or mixtures thereof.
Copending application U.S. Ser. No., filed concurrently herewith, entitled "Ink Compositions Containing Malonaldehyde Bis(Dimethylacetal)," with the named inventors Kurt B. Gundlach and Richard L. Colt, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition comprising (a) water, (b) a colorant, and (c) malonaidehyde bis(dimethylacetal).
While known compositions and processes are suitable for their intended purposes, a need remains for improved ink compositions, particularly those suitable for use in ink jet printing. In addition, a need remains for ink compositions that exhibit rapid penetration into recording substrates such as plain paper. Further, a need remains for ink compositions that exhibit reduced intercolor bleed when printed next to images of another color. Additionally, a need remains for ink compositions with desirable viscosity values. There is also a need for ink compositions that enable long recoverability times in ink jet hardware.